Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Some businesses are hesitant to start telemarketing other businesses than seem to sound just like them (or even use the same form of marketing as them). It's bad enough that they have to contend with fears about cold calling and the ridicule often levied against call centers. The last thing they want is to market a product that a business itself is trying to provide.

Though like all fears, it's not always justified by reality. Just because a business sounds very similar doesn't automatically mean they're the same thing. For example:

VoIP and Telemarketing – Both types of companies can fall under telecommunication but while it might sound ironic to use B2B telemarketing to market to another telemarketing company, a VoIP provider is actually not the same. The difference can be easily missed but the fine line is there. VoIP provide a different service and product compared to telemarketers.

Medical Tools and Healthcare Services – While they're both concerned with the overall quality of health for patients, only one of them actually has direct focus on the patients themselves. These would be the healthcare services. Companies like those who provide medical tools actually focus on how to better those services. Simply put, their effect on patient health is more indirect.

There are probably more than a dozen other examples out there but the point is, similarities don't necessarily imply that two businesses are the exact same thing. So no matter how similar your prospect is to your business, you need to take the following steps to be sure:

What you provide: Just what is it do you actually provide and is it something that they themselves are already providing? If it's not, emphasize on that. No matter how basic it seems, highlight the one thing that they need and draw attention from what makes you similar. Again, it might seem awkward to use telemarketing to present your business to another telemarketing firm but draw focus on the actual thing being marketed. You could even be offering something completely unrelated to telecommunications (e.g. office cleaning services).

What makes you different: Speaking of which, you should have as much emphasis on the other things that make you different. The tricky thing about these differences is that they don't always reveal themselves at first glance. The key is still focus.Pour more focus on the other things that make you different asides from just what you provide. Demonstrate more advanced knowledge on subjects that are well-known to businesses like yours but aren't in businesses like theirs despite being under the same category.

In lead generation, you should always be prepared to look in every corner for a lead. Don't always assume that just because you or even any of the marketing tools you use make you similar to your target businesses, it means you're offering something they already have. While it's good to have some common ground with prospects, it's also important to draw attention on differences too. Those differences will highlight the things your prospects need. Don't be afraid to draw a fine line between what is similar and what is the same!